Origin
In the original “The Spider” series, Nita Van Sloan was the fiancé and confidante of Richard Wentworth. She was one of the few people who knew Richard was The Spider and he would regularly confide in her. She was far from the damsel in distress often portrayed in novels and comics of the time and on a number of occasions donned The Spider costume herself. Richard and Nita chose not to marry as he was sure eventually he would be killed or unmasked and she would have to suffer for it.
Dynamite Entertainment
In the Dynamite series, Nita and Richard were also once together but he broke up their relationship as he felt he would not return from his next mission as a soldier. After going on his mission, Richard let Nita believe he was dead until he returned to New York years later. By this time Nita was married to Stanley Kirkpatrick.
Creation
Nita Van Sloan was created by editor Harry Steeger and writer R.T.M. Scott. She first appeared in the pulp magazine series The Spider in 1933.
For the 2012 Dynamite Entertainment series The Spider, the character was re-imagined by writer David Liss and artist Colton Worley.